Navigating Leadership Challenges in Academic Success Centers: Insights from the 2024 ICLCA Conference

As I reflect on the recent ICLCA conference in Salt Lake City, a session led by Adriana Gonzalez-Elliott, Director of the Academic Success Center at Iowa State University, stood out to me. Titled “Enhancing Academic Success: Empowering Teams, Cultivating Trust, and Driving Innovation,” the session was an important reminder of the complexities of leadership in learning centers across college and university campuses.

For those of us working to improve academic success, we understand that leading a learning center comes with its own set of unique challenges. Gonzalez-Elliott touched on a number of these, many of which reminded me of my own experiences while working in on a college campus and from conversations I’ve had with directors of similar programs. Below are some key challenges we face and how they can be overcome.

Inheriting a Team: Navigating Established Dynamics

One of the most delicate challenges is inheriting an established team. Walking into a leadership role where relationships, workflows, and power dynamics are already in place requires a thoughtful approach. Leaders must carefully navigate this terrain, with a particular emphasis on  the importance of getting to know the team individually. Listening to their challenges, their wins, and their aspirations for the program helps build rapport and paves the way for trust.

New directors are often expected to bring change, but doing so without first understanding the culture of the team can create resistance. I’ve found that taking the time to learn from the team’s history and acknowledging their previous successes goes a long way in ensuring smoother transitions. Instead of imposing a new direction immediately, integrating the strengths already present in the team can make them feel heard and respected, setting the foundation for deeper collaboration.

Building Trust in a Decentralized Campus

Another issue that’s often encountered, particularly on large campuses, is navigating the decentralized nature of academic support services. The communication breakdowns and lack of uniformity across departments can hinder even the best-intentioned initiatives. Gonzalez-Elliott’s session provided helpful insights here, as she discussed the work that went into creating Iowa State’s Academic Navigator Unit. This program required collaboration across a sprawling campus, which in turn, required building trust with stakeholders who may have had different priorities.

For directors, the key to overcoming these silos is fostering genuine relationships across departments and breaking the cycle of isolation. Establishing regular communication channels, creating space for cross-departmental dialogues, and demonstrating a willingness to collaborate are crucial steps toward building a more cohesive academic support environment.

Cultivating Innovation While Managing Expectations

One of the most rewarding yet daunting responsibilities for learning center directors is driving innovation while managing expectations. We are constantly pressured to innovate—be it through new programs, technologies, or pedagogical approaches—but balancing innovation with the daily operational needs of a learning center can be tough.

During the session, the launch of the Neurodiversity Support Program was a powerful example of innovation in action. Gonzalez-Elliott shared how this program was designed to meet the specific needs of neurodiverse students while also aligning with the overall mission of Iowa State’s Academic Success Center. Introducing such an initiative required navigating campus politics, securing funding, and ensuring that the program was sustainable in the long term.

The takeaway for me was that while innovation is essential, it needs to be rooted in the center's core mission and goals. Directors must be clear about why a particular innovation is necessary, and how it will directly benefit the students and staff. Without that clarity, we risk stretching our resources too thin or losing sight of our primary objectives.

Decision-Making with Limited Resources

Most learning center directors are no strangers to resource constraints. Whether it’s budgetary limitations, staffing shortages, or limited space, we often find ourselves making tough decisions about which programs to prioritize. While talking with leaders across the country, it’s something I think about often: how do we continue to offer high-quality support services with finite resources?

It often comes down to making strategic, data-informed decisions. Directors must be clear on the metrics that matter most—whether that’s student outcomes, satisfaction rates, or the reach of specific programs. In my own work, I’ve found that keeping an outcomes-based focus allows us to channel resources more effectively. It’s also important to get buy-in from the team on these decisions, ensuring that everyone is aligned on what’s most critical.

Empowering Teams for Long-Term Success

Ultimately, a learning center’s success is not just about the leader but the team they lead. Empowering teams to take ownership of their work, to contribute to decision-making, and to innovate within their roles is a core leadership challenge. Gonzalez-Elliott’s emphasis on empowering her team to develop and implement new programs, like the Academic Navigator Unit, was a reminder that true leadership often lies in enabling others to lead.

From my perspective, creating space for peer leadership opportunities, facilitating professional development, and providing a supportive environment are key to empowering staff. If we’re going to meet the needs of all students, we need our teams to feel valued, heard, and supported. When they are empowered, they are more likely to contribute meaningfully to the center’s success.

Final Thoughts

The challenges that come with directing a learning center are multifaceted. But with these challenges also come opportunities for growth, both for the center and for us as leaders. The insights I gained from the 2024 ICLCA conference reinforced the importance of fostering trust, collaboration, and innovation—principles that are at the heart of effective leadership in academic success centers.

As we move forward, I encourage campus leaders to keep these key ideas in mind. Our work is critical in shaping the academic experiences of countless students, and the way we lead can have a lasting impact on our teams, institutions, and students alike.